More Washington Post employees take buyouts than expected
More employees than expected have volunteered to take buyouts from The Washington Post, according to an email from the Washington Post Guild, the union that represents many of the Post’s staffers. As a result, the Guild claims, managers “are attempting to bribe some colleagues to stay by offering them more money and better jobs at the eleventh hour.”
A Post spokesperson has not yet responded to Washingtonian‘s query as to whether this characterization is accurate, but interim CEO Patty Stonesifer told employees in an email that the Post had met its goal of reducing its workforce, a goal that stood at 240 people when the publication announced its current buyout plan in October.
Initially, stated Washingtonian, people in the newsroom were especially slow to sign up for the “voluntary separation packages” the Post offered, citing revenue projections that it later found to be “overly optimistic.” As of November 28, only 36 people in the newsroom had agreed to leave out of a goal of 120 (Post business and tech staff accounted for the other 120 the publication targeted).
More here.
